Everyday Injustice

This is one of the worst stories about official corruption we have seen in recent times in California. Back in 2014, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders was the keynote speaker at the Vanguard's annual fundraiser and spoke about the Jailhouse informant scandal of Orange County.

The case kept going - on and on. The basics of it were that the public defender, Mr. Sanders, uncovered evidence that the Orange County DA's office and Sheriff's Department were systematically planting informants with prisoners in violation of their right to counsel—and then deliberately not telling the defense.

There are all sorts of illegalities here that we can probably get into.

Incredibly the consequences here are both immense and underwhelming. The DA last year was defeated for reelection. The judge effectively took the case of Scott Dekraii away from the Orange County DA's office, the AG's office under both Kamala Harris and Xavier Bacerra, fought the judge, attempting first to get him to reinstate the DA's office and then attempted to fight for the death penalty, which the judge took off the table.

And at the end of the day, while the voters punished the DA, the AG's office closed their four-year investigation without any penalties.

Anthony Hernandez was arrested and spent a month in custody because of racial profiling and presumptions by the arresting officer. It might have been far worse had it not been for the persistence of his defense attorney, who kept demanding that prosecutors turn over body camera footage of the incident from the arresting officer.

Once the officer turned it over to the prosecutor’s office, almost immediately the Sacramento DA dropped the charges.

The Vanguard speaks to Attorney Jennifer Mouzis about the arrest and the illegal activities of the Sacramento Police.

For more information see: shorturl.at/eyRXY

In 1974, in the small town of Union City California, a 13 year old girl was found, floating in a creek. Having no leads, the police at some point focused on a 19 year old security guard, Marvin Mutch. He would serve 41 years in prison having been released in 2016. Many believe him to have been innocent. The evidence seems overwhelming that it was someone else. And yet the best the Innocence Project could do is get him out on parole - twice - once in 2006 when Governor Schwarzenegger reversed it and then finally in 2016.

Emmitt Lewis and Michael Wilson who were convicted of first degree murder stemming from a 2003 robbery that turned into a car chase, became the first people in San Francisco, and among the first in the state to have their murder charges vacated after a contested evidentiary hearing.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge John K. Stewart vacated the conviction during an evidentiary hearing granted under Senate Bill 1437.

We talk to his attorney, Public Defender Niki Solis, who defended him at his original trial and San Francisco Public Defender Jacque Wilson, who is working on similar cases and got involved when his brother fell under the felony murder rule.

See also: https://www.davisvanguard.org/2019/08/sf-judge-grants-1437-petition-two-men-expected-to-be-released-upon-re-sentencing-2/

The story of Jeffrey Deskovic is a classic case of a wrongful conviction. At the age of 17, he was accused of raping and murdering a 15-year-old school classmate. This was despite the fact that his DNA was excluded from the DNA found at the scene and despite the fact that he recanted on his false confession.

In 2006, 16 years later, a new DA authorized DNA testing and this time it not only excluded his DNA from the scene but the DNA was found to match another man – a man serving a life term for another murder.

Since then, Jeff has won a settlement and used that money to create the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation and he went back to school, got his college degree and graduated from law school. He recently took the bar exam and awaits the results.

On October 26, he will be the keynote speaker at the Vanguard’s Fundraiser on Progressive Prosecution. (To purchase tickets go to: progressive-prosecution.eventbrite.com)

This is a story of redemption. So many people get caught up in the criminal justice system and never escape. Alfred Melbourne was a young man when he found himself involved with the criminal justice system. He fully admits he made "bad choices." At the age of 19, he committed a serious crime and ended up in prison until he was in his late 30s. Now, free for several years, he is trying to give back to the community, having started "Three Sisters Garden" the mission of which is to teach at-risk youth how to grow/ harvest/ distribute organic vegetables and engage the community to get involved in supporting at-risk youth in Yolo County.

The Attica Uprising is an overlooked attrocity in American History - comparable to perhaps Mai Lai, Abu Ghraib, and the Battle of Wounded Knee. Historian Heather Ann Thompson, won the Pulitzer Prize for this account which takes us through the prison conditions, the brutal retaking of the prison and the horrifying coverup by state officials including Governor Rockefeller.

Vanguard speaks with Civil Rights Attorney John Burris who speaks about recent police shootings including Willie McCoy, Joseph Mann, Brandon Smith, and the state of policing and police oversight.

Lisa Rea is the president and founder of Restorative Justice International (RJI). RJI is an international association and network first created in 2008 through social media with over 6000 members and affiliates working for victims-driven restorative justice.

Lisa talked about criminal justice reform, wrongful conviction, victim-offender reconciliation and restorative justice.

Davis Vanguard Podcast interviews San Francisco DA Candidate Chesa Boudin who discusses his race, the progressive prosecution movement and criminal justice reform

For more information: http://davisvanguard.org and http://sfcourtwatch.org